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VANCOUVER - If the objective of Travis Lulay's 19-play appearance on Saturday was to test his injured throwing arm, 18 of the plays were redundant because the B.C. Lions' quarterback was hammered the first time he touched the ball.

“Several people told me they thought I winced and asked if the shoulder was OK,” Lulay said after the 17-6 win against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. “All I was thinking was: I wish I could have thrown the ball a little higher to Marco. I didn't even think of my shoulder.”

That made one of him.

Unblocked Saskatchewan safety James Patrick drove Lulay's right shoulder into the turf at B.C. Place as the quarterback, who hadn't played since Oct. 12, threw low to receiver Marco Iannuzzi.

Lulay jumped to his feet and completed nine of his next 13 passes – two were dropped by receivers – before being safely extracted by coach Mike Benevides and redeployed to the sideline 36 seconds into the second quarter.

On Lulay's arm and head rest the Lions' best chance at becoming only the third repeat Grey Cup champions in 30 years, and the first from the West Division since the Edmonton Eskimos' dynasty ended in 1982.

Theoretically, the Lions could win even without Lulay, as talented but previously untried backup Mike Reilly proved the last three games that he, too, can play. But Lulay was the CFL's Most Outstanding Player last season and probably would have been again this year had he not hurt his shoulder in Hamilton three weeks ago.

No one can lose a player like Lulay without consequence, which is why the first play from scrimmage Saturday was as significant as any that followed. It made you wonder if it was worth the risk to play Lulay when the division title and a bye into the Western Final on Nov. 18 were already secured.

“One of the big things was to give him confidence and let everybody see there's nothing wrong with him,” Benevides explained. “That's a big, big part of it.

“(Another) big thing really was to get him in a game rhythm, let him see a defence, let him go through game speed. I wanted to see him make all the throws and operate the offence. And he did. He threw the wide-side out, he threw the deep ball, he was making all the throws.”

The CFL table is set for the Lions. B.C. gained more yards and allowed fewer than any other team this season. With depth and talent everywhere, they apparently have a plug-and-play antidote to injuries. They were the only team to win 13 games, which means the road to the Grey Cup goes through B.C. Place, where the Lions are 14-1 since their stadium got its sun roof 13 months ago. Oh, and this year's Grey Cup is also indoors, in Toronto on Nov. 25.

With an outbreak of mediocrity around the league – the East Division champion Montreal Alouettes surrendered 135 points more than B.C. – no one can touch the Lions when they're on their game.

But by the time Saskatchewan or the Calgary Stampeders make it here for the Western Final, Lulay's “game” will have consisted of just 15 ½ minutes of work the previous five weeks.

Starting the week following the Hamilton game, when Lulay began showing up in full gear to watch practice, both he and Benevides insisted it was important for him to play to maintain a rhythm going into the playoffs.

One quarter plus two plays in five weeks do not constitute rhythm.

“I don't want to act like I don't have to play and can just go out there and be awesome,” Lulay said. “But I do feel confident. (Saturday) helped increase my confidence in feeling like I'm still in a pretty good flow. It's 15 minutes more than I would have got if I didn't play. I'm honestly comfortable with that. There's nothing I can do about it at this point, obviously, but I really do feel good.”

So does Benevides.

By any measure, this has been a tremendous first season for the rookie head coach, who not only had to replace iconic Wally Buono but motivate a team coming off a championship. A 13-5 record is a favorable judgment on Benevides. Everybody else on the Lions is being judged solely on the next one or two games.

“I'm tremendously proud of the entire organization,” Benevides said. “To go 13-5 and get to the first place, that was a huge goal. Great. Now we have to find a way to win the Western Final. You might be remembered as a 13-5 team. But what you'll really be remembered by is the legendary status you can achieve (by winning consecutive Grey Cups). That's what we're going to be judged on – how well we play the next two. And the biggest thing in that locker room? They're talking about two more wins.”

Benevides said Lulay will get six days of “high-velocity” first-team reps at practice to prepare for the playoffs. He believes Lulay's lack of game time won't matter.

Besides, as 36-year-old centre Angus Reid said: “We have talent across the board and when one guy goes down, we can always lean on someone else. That's really why we are great; we don't rely on one person to carry us.”

He said Lulay's playing time “is a concern, but it's comforting to know we have put other people in there and still looked pretty darn good. We like Plan A. But Plan B doesn't look too bad, either.”

But by definition, Plan B is never as good as Plan A.

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